Chapter 463 463 On Second Thought
Chapter 463 463 On Second Thought
That only left the question of how many and what type of planes they should make, which was going to be a much easier decision than upgrading a whole network of underground tunnels.
The twin-engine plane that they had now could carry half a tonne of gear anywhere in their territory, which was enough for a single village at a time or multiple if they only needed a limited selection of what they had to offer.
Since they had about ten villages on the eastern side of the Frozen Wastes to look after, that would be about fifty kilos each when divided between a plane.
That was plenty for basic munitions drops, but they would have to be frequent for the villagers to keep up if the Grand Dutchies started to become a real nuisance.
So it was either send one of them every few days or make a much larger aircraft.
But they did have one more option. There was a large cargo helicopter at the airstrip that was designed to move the eight-metre-long containers that the army used to move gear.
Those things held nearly ten tonnes, according to the witches in the Morgana Coven swamp, and that was more than enough to load them up with weapons and even food supplies once a week.
Once a week would be a much more realistic schedule than every day, which would be predictable and easier for the enemy to spot when they came in to land at the designated drop-off point.
Wolfe turned to Ella. “Do you recall the airstrip that we destroyed? There is a large cargo helicopter there that I think we can repurpose. It’s designed to move the cargo containers, and it’s already a Grand Dutchies military vehicle, so it will hopefully be less suspicious.
One container a week should keep our allies supplied, and we can fly it all over the Frozen Wastes to drop and pick containers of gear once we have someone who understands how to fly it.”
Ella smiled back at him. “It just so happens that we have a person like that. She arrived with some of the local villagers, and it took us a while to realize that she wasn’t one of the local mutants.
It was only when we gathered everyone for routine healing that anyone realized she had no mutations. Darius is a former pilot with the Gormana Army and was piloting one of the helicopters that the villagers shot down. She was injured and taken in by a werewolf village for treatment five years ago and came here with her husband.
The topic of using military equipment came up a few days ago when we started reworking the trucks, and they already suggested stealing the helicopters since they can land anywhere.
We even have a schematic for them that some of the locals salvaged from a unit that had a full repair manual in it.”
Wolfe laughed. Of course, the villagers had saved information about the helicopters. They saved information on everything, just in case it was useful in the future.
They also reused everything that they could so an intact helicopter wouldn’t go to waste as long as it had enough fuel to keep flying. They would just wait until they felt it was safe to use it.
“Alright, where do we find this person? Then we might need to steal yet another of your technicians to come check out the helicopter and make sure it works. I can probably find a way to convert it to magic. I just need to understand how it operates.” Wolfe suggested.
The Technicians all groaned at the thought of losing two of their members in one day, but they sent a qualified werewolf forward with a smile on his face.
“As luck would have it, I have the skills to fix the helicopter, and my wife is the Pilot. We will do a great job for you and get it all up and running if we can. There might not be much fuel, but one tank holds at least two round trips if they’re not too far.” He bragged.
“Marvellous. Get your wife and meet us at the river in half an hour. We will fly to the airstrip and make a shelter so you can get started on the work. Eventually, we will be using it as a transfer station to move gear, so the bunker is going to have to be built eventually anyhow.”
Cassie and Ella both fell in on either side of Janet, who looked like she would rather be researching than doing practical work. She wasn’t resisting. It was a lost cause with the two Witches teaming up against her desire to be a homebody.
Then, as they were leaving the secondary parkade that had been turned into the workshop, they met up with Priya, who had heard from the excited Mechanic that there was a road trip in the airplane going on.
Priya flipped her dark hair in a grand fashion and gave Wolfe her best pouting look, managing to look much more sultry than pleading. “You never take me with you anymore. Let’s make this a big group outing. Plus, I’m good with Earth Magic and Air Magic, so I have the skills to help.”
The same could be said of Cassie and Ella, and three Rank Two Witches on one simple mission to make a bunker was overkill, but she really wasn’t busy with anything else since her combat classes were taught in the morning.
“Alright, come on then. We’ve got room in the plane, and we can discuss what we’re going to do about the supply situation once we see the helicopter. It looked intact, but there is no telling if there is something wrong with it unless we have an actual technician to examine it.”
So, two hours later, after some delays and a quick stop to inform the scouts that they saw along the river about the upcoming subterranean roadwork, the expanded group found themselves back at the airstrip, looking at the abandoned airframe of one large cargo helicopter.
The mechanic was already inside, checking every system and looking for hidden damage either from battle or from sitting over the winter.
“It looks good, boss. The starter motor is shot, though. I think that the brushes are stuck. If you give me half an hour, I can get them working again, though.”
“Can we bypass that with magic?” Ella asked.
“Sure, just spin the rotors with the gear drive engaged, and the turbine will start spinning. Then we’re good to go until it runs out of fuel, which won’t be long since the gauge reads empty, but there is still a bit in the tank.” He explained.